Seyedeh Nahid Angha was only 3 when her father, a renowned 20th century Sufi teacher, took her outside at night to observe the sky. Small feet dangling from the front steps of their home in Tehran, Iran, she stared up at the stars and searched for a glimpse of their "divine essence."

"He told me to see if any of the stars were looking back at me," recalled Angha, who heeded her father's advice to focus on the presence of Allah, God, in all things.

Following in the footsteps of her father, Moulana Shah Maghsoud, the pir, or master, of the Oveysi school of Sufism, she became the first woman appointed an Oveysi teacher.

Oveysi is a special sect of Sufism that originated during the time of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet who recorded the Koran 15 centuries ago. Sufis sought a direct experience of the Divine through disciplines and meditations that allowed them to become selfless. They gathered on the platform, or suffe, of the mosque where Muhammad prayed in Medina, Arabia. There they discussed inner knowledge, truth and the meanings of the verses of the Koran.

More than 70 Sufi orders exist, many of them not directly connected to Islam. The more popular of these in the West is the "Dances of Universal Peace," also known as Sufi dancing.

Angha, in her mid-50s, has shared principles of Sufi, the mystical component of Islam, with others for more than 30 years, 20 of them in San Rafael at the International Association of Sufism. She co-founded the association with her husband, Seyed Ali Kianfar, 62.

To augment classes, retreats and interfaith gatherings, they recently established the Institute for Sufi Studies in Novato. It offers a community meeting room, courses on Sufi psychology and principles, a library of Sufi-related materials and a khaneghah, or "house of time," for meditation and periods of prayer.

The institute, in Bel Marin Keys, is also the site of the IAS Healing Center, which offers low-cost individual, couple and family counseling.

For Arife Ellen Hammerle of Mill Valley, director of the Healing Center, which also has offices in San Francisco, the institute provides a refuge from the hectic world.

"It is so exciting to know I can come here when I need peace and quiet," she said.

A student of Sufi practices for more than two decades, Hammerle also looks forward to classes in language, poetry and psychology. "I think this helps people to get over negative images of Islam," she said.

Arthur Scott, an anthropology professor at Dominican University, plans to bring students to the center.

"This will be a terrific resource for students as well as the community to learn more about Sufism," he said.

"Sufism is a way to polish the heart so that one can experience divine love," said Kianfar, who has studied and taught the esoteric Oveysi for more than 40 years.

Angha and Kianfar hope Marin's interfaith community also will take advantage of the Novato location.

"We don't need to know your religion. Just please come inside. You are welcome here," said Kianfar, who leads zikrs, regular periods of prayer and remembrance, in Marin and across the country.

Kianfar was 22 when he met Angha's father. From him, Kianfar, who had been raised in a strict Muslim household, learned that "true religion was based upon inner knowledge and experiences of the heart." From then on he devoted himself to the Sufi path of endless search and study that includes meditation and prayer.

This path and family connections to the overthrown Iranian government led him and Angha to leave Tehran in 1979.

"We have been well received here in America, where there is freedom and human rights are protected," he said.

Human rights are a big part of what the IAS, a non-governmental organization of the United Nations, promotes through a range of projects, including the International Sufi Women's Literacy Project for women and children and the Prison Project, which works with inmates throughout the United States.

SUFI STUDIES

The Institute for Sufi Studies is located at 14 Commercial Blvd., Suite 101, Novato. For information, call the institute at (415) 382-7834 or the International Association of Sufism office at (415) 472-6959. The association's Web site is www.ias.org.